Staying With The Echizen's
by Lolliepop Duck
Summary: What happens when Sakuno has to stay with Ryoma? When a street tennis gang goes after Sakuno and Ryoma, the only way for them to stay safe is if Sakuno stays at Ryoma's house! Will this bring them closer? What will the senpai's think? Will Sakuno survive Ryoma's dad? Read and find out. (This is my very first fanfic so please be kind)
1. Chapter 1 - Rescue in the Night

The moon shone down on a lone figure, the not-so rhythmic sound of a ball hitting a wall was their only company. Sweat ran down Ryuzaki Sakuno's forehead as she yet again missed the ball. She was improving, no one could deny that, but she still had a long way to go. Running after her ball in the empty street tennis court she thought she heard a noise in the bushes, however glancing in that direction and seeing nothing she assumed her mind was playing tricks on her; it was quite late after all. "_Oh no,_" she thought, "_Oba-san will be worried, I better start home soon. One more try…_" Returning to the wall, ball clutched in hand, she raised her arm to serve as, once again, she heard a sound. This time though, there was no doubt that she really heard it this time as the sound was of people talking, and they were talking to her. Sakuno spun around and came face to face with ten high school boys. They were all wearing matching jackets and holding tennis racquets and a tennis ball.

"What are you doin' here?" what looked like the leader of the gang growled, a cruel smirk forming on his face.

"J-j-just p-practicing" Sakuno stuttered getting very nervous "I-I'm just l-l-leaving, s-so you can u-use the court n-now"

"Oh no" the leader's smirk grew even wider and crueller "You can help us with our target practice, right boys?" and with that her drew back his hand, and served the ball hard and fast , hitting Sakuno right in the ankle.

Sakuno cried out in pain and fell to the ground clutching her ankle. She could hear all ten of the boys in front of her laughing, and looked up at them through her tears. The leader once again raised his arm to serve another ball at her. Sakuno looked down and braced herself, but instead of pain she was met with the sound of a ball being hit by a racquet.

Echizen Ryoma walked through the park towards the street tennis court where Momoshiro was waiting for him. As he was walking he heard the unmistakeable sound of a tennis ball being hit.

"_No-one uses these courts at night," he thought, "there are no floodlights._" Getting curious as to who would practice this late with no floodlights, Ryoma moved closer to the tennis courts so he could look inside as he walked past. As he got closer he noticed that the sound of the ball hitting the wall was irregular and sloppy. Whoever it was that was making those shots was very inconsistent with their power and timing. "_Probably a novice_" he thought. As expected, the sound of the ball stopped and the sound of running footsteps followed. Deciding it wasn't worth wasting his time here, Ryoma started to move away from the fence, when the sound of voices caught his attention.

"What are you doin' here?" a gruff voice growled followed by a familiar, soft, shy voice.

"J-j-just p-practicing" came the voice of Ryuzaki Sakuno.

"_Ryuzaki?_" Ryoma thought confusion and surprise washing away his usual expression of boredom and contempt.

"I-I'm just l-l-leaving, s-so you can u-use the court n-now" Ryuzaki stuttered again.

"Oh no, you can help us with our target practice, right boys?" came the other voice again, confusing Ryoma even more. Suddenly he heard Ryuzaki cry out in pain. Ryoma started to run toward the court, the sight that greeted him made his blood boil. Ryuzaki was on the ground clutching her ankle, tears streaming down her face, and surrounding her were ten boys, all about high school age, laughing at her. One of the boys raised his arm to serve a ball at her, and Ryoma sprang into action. He ran as fast as he could towards Ryuzaki, his footsteps ringing through the court arriving just in time to hit the ball away from Ryuzaki and towards the boys who hit it in the first place. Saving the clumsy girl from gaining any more injuries.

Sakuno raised her head and there standing before her, arm raised from hitting away the ball, was the prince of tennis himself. His emerald hair dancing slightly under his Fila cap as the wind blew through it.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno whispered in disbelief. However, before Ryoma even had a chance to reply the leader of the group decided to speak up.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING KID?" he yelled "YOU ALMOST HIT ME! ARE YOU LOOKING FOR TROUBLE?"

Ryoma just smirked and replied "Mada mada dane. You honestly think you guys are trouble?"

This just made them all even more pissed; although this time he refrained from yelling; instead he spoke with barely repressed rage. "You asked for it kid, you may be able to hit one ball away, but how do you do against ten?" he ended with a cruel smirk, followed by the raising of his arm. The others soon followed suite and Sakuno started to panic.

"R-Ryoma-kun -"

"Don't worry Ryuzaki" Ryoma whispered, a look of concentration forming in his eyes and his smirk growing wider. Sakuno just stared and watched in amazement as all ten of the boys hit their balls towards her and Ryoma. With expert skill, Ryoma hit each one of their serves, twice as hard, right into each of the ten boy's faces. Cries of pain rang out in the night as they all fled to the safety of their houses. The leader however had a parting message for the two "We will get you for this kid. You may be able to beat ten of us, but how will you do against twenty, or even thirty. We will all come after you, and we will finish what we started girly." And with that he ran off into the night.

Ryoma turned his attention to the girl sitting on the ground, a mixture of pain, fear and confusion visible on her face.

"Can you stand up?" he asked her, all traces of his smirk now gone, replaced by a look of concealed worry.

"Y-Yes, I think so," she said with a blush and began to get up. As soon as she put any pressure on her ankle however, she fell back to the ground in pain. Tears began to well up in her eyes but she kept them from falling and instead wondered what on earth she would do. Meanwhile Ryoma gathered up her stuff and slung her bag over his shoulder along with his own. He then proceeded to make his way over to Sakuno and bent down in front of her.

"Put your arms around my neck" he stated. "H-huh?" Sakuno stuttered "Put your arms around my neck Ryuzaki, then I can help you up." Blushing like mad Sakuno put her arms around Ryoma's neck, and he proceeded to help her stand up. Once she was standing up, Ryoma put her arm around his shoulders and they started to slowly walk out of the tennis court and through the park. "_This isn't the way to my house_" Sakuno thought.

"R-Ryoma-kun, w-where are we going?"

"To my house, it's closer than yours, just through the park" Ryoma replied, continuing to help her along. Sakuno blushed even more at the thought of going to Ryoma's house and stayed silent the rest of the way there. "I_ wonder how my baka oyaji will react_…" Ryoma thought, shuddering as he did so.

**A.N. **_Hey this is my very first time writing a fanfic. I've had this idea for a while and my friend finally got me to write and post it. As long as someone is reading I'll keep posting chapters.__ I'll try to update as regularly as I can, but you know, life goes on. Anyway please R&R and I hope you enjoyed reading. _


	2. Chapter 2 - Staying the Night

**_Chapter 2 – Staying the Night_**

They soon arrived at the Echizen house. As soon as they went through the front door they could heard Ryoma's dad yelling.

"Shounen, where have you be-"he stopped mid-sentence when he saw Sakuno draped over Ryoma's shoulders. "Finally Shounen," he said, a grin creeping over his face," I thought you would never bring a girl home. Have fun you two" he said with a wink and started to walk away. Sakuno blushed so hard she could put a tomato to shame. Ryoma just sighed but called out when he saw his dad was leaving.

"Wait, Oyaji, she's hurt." He called to him, but he had already left. "Baka Oyaji" he muttered. Sakuno stared at him in confusion, not used to hearing Ryoma speak like that. Luckily Ryoma's cousin, Nanako, came in to see what they were talking about. A shocked, worried look came over her face.

"Oh, what happened? Are you ok?" she asked Sakuno as she came over and took the bags from Ryoma and led them into the kitchen/living room. As soon as they entered Rinko saw them and rushed to get the first aid kit.

"Nanako, can you finish dinner please?" Rinko asked, flustered. Nanako quickly agreed and went to the kitchen to finish making dinner, while Ryoma sat Sakuno on a chair and Rinko started looking at her ankle.

"How did this happen?" she asked both Sakuno and Ryoma. Between the two of them they told Rinko all about those boys and what happened to Sakuno's ankle.

"I hate people like that" Rinko said sadly, "At least your ankle isn't too bad, it's just severely bruised and slightly sprained. You shouldn't walk on it tonight and should take things easy for the next week or so." Rinko instructed and went to put the first aid kit away. Nanjiroh then entered the room.

"Your still here?" he asked Sakuno, but then started to look closer at her. "Hmmm… You look familiar… What's your name?" he asked her suspiciously. Ryoma, who was watching smirked at this and waited to see his father's reaction.

"R-Ryuzaki Sakuno…" she said hesitantly. Nanjiroh's reaction was instantaneous. He jumped up and ran to the wall.

"You're the old hag's granddaughter?" he asked incredulously, and then he turned on Ryoma. "You brought her here on purpose didn't you? That old hag is going to kill me for letting her granddaughter get hurt!" Ryoma just smirked at his father as Rinko came in, having heard Nanjiroh from the other room.

"You're Sumire's granddaughter? Well we will call her to come and get you. Nanjiroh go give Sumire a call and tell her what has happened." Rinko ordered

Nanjiroh looked at her incredulously. "WHAT? There is NO WAY that I will call that old hag!" he yelled and turned his back on them all like a petulant child.

"Oh really Nanjiroh?" Rinko's voice is low and threatening. "Ryoma, Nanako, shall we have a bonfire with Nanjiroh's magazines tonight?" Immediately Nanjiroh ran to the telephone to call Ryuzaki sensei.

"A-anou, what magazines are you talking about? A-and w-why would you burn them?" asked Sakuno innocently, cocking her head to the side. Her questions however were greeted with silence as no one was willing to tell the girl what exactly they were talking about. Luckily, after just a few seconds yelling was heard from the phone, giving everyone an excuse not to answer.

Sakuno sweat dropped at the sound of her obaa-chan's yelling.

"G-gomen, obaa-chan worries a lot and…"

"Oh don't worry dear; Nanjiroh deserves a good yelling at. It's really sweet she cares for you so much." Rinko replied to Sakuno's attempted apology. Ryoma chose now to speak up.

"Sensei is probably worried because of the road work going on down the street. No one can get in or out until tomorrow morning." Ryoma's statement was met with silence. Everyone had seemed to forget this very important fact, until now. Another set of yells, this time from Nanjiroh, broke through the silence and caused Rinko to go and stop her husband from smashing their phone against the wall. This left Ryoma and Sakuno alone in the living room together.

"R-Ryoma-kun, your dad sort of strange isn't he." Sakuno giggled out. Ryoma's eyes glanced out at her from under his hat momentarily before resuming their place behind the brim.

"Che," Ryoma muttered "Baka Oyaji" This just cause Sakuno to giggle again. She liked this side of Ryoma. The side only his close friends, like Momo-senpai, and family get to see. She was glad she got to see it. In truth it was kind of cute. Ryoma just looked back towards the door, away from Sakuno, just as his parents came back in. They both looked pleased.

"_Oh no_" thought Ryoma, knowing his parents all too well "_What now?_"

Rinko smiled broadly, yet sweetly. While Nanjiroh smiled deviously.

"Sakuno's going to stay here tonight" Rinko announced cheerfully. Ryoma's head spun towards his parents, while Sakuno who had already been looking at them blushed excessively. "Since Sumire can't get here tonight, Sakuno will stay here and go to morning practice with Ryoma tomorrow morning."

"Where will she sleep?" Ryoma wondered aloud. Although as soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted them, seeing the smirk on his father's face widen.

"Why in your room Ryoma" he said chuckling. Sakuno's blush increased tenfold, but Ryoma, used to his father's nonsense, simply turned to his mother with a questioning look.

"I'm afraid it's true Ryoma. Nanako has to study for her exams, and we promised Sumire she wouldn't sleep anywhere near Nanjiroh" she said with a sidelong glance at her husband. "Don't worry we will set up a futon in there. Sakuno will have to sleep on Ryoma's bed, it will be too hard for her to get down to and up from the floor with her ankle the way it is. I hope you don't mind if we don't change the sheets Sakuno, it's quite late and you both have an early start tomorrow." The thought of sleeping in the same room as Ryoma, and in Ryoma's bed no less, caused Sakuno to blush so much anyone could mistake her for a tomato. She turned her head away to spare herself more embarrassment.

"Th-that's f-fine. Th-thank you so much for letting me stay. S-sorry for the inconvenience." Sakuno replied

"Oh it's no inconvenience at all, right Ryoma?" Rinko said looking sternly at Ryoma. He thought it was a very big inconvenience, but for some reason he didn't seem to mind as much as he should.

"_I'm probably just tired_" he thought.

"Right" Ryoma said in answer to his mother's question. Rinko smiled at his reply, and a light bush crossed Sakuno's face, which had only just returned to its normal colour.

Nanako then came out with her arms full of delicious food filled plates. Everyone in the Echizen household then sat down to eat.

After Dinner…

"Arigatou Nanako-san, Rinko-san" Sakuno said when the meal was finished.

"You're welcome Sakuno. Now why don't you and Ryoma go off to bed. You two need your sleep." Rinko stated "Ryoma make sure you help Sakuno up the stairs. She won't be able to walk properly until the morning." With that said, Ryoma went and helped Sakuno to stand and slowly make their way up the stairs, Sakuno blushing all the while.

_"I don't think I've ever blushed as much as I have tonight in all my life." _

When they were out of earshot, Rinko turned to Nanjiroh and Nanako.

"Aren't they adorable? They are so cute together" she whispered, her voice rising in pitch in her excitement.

Nanjiroh smirked at this about to make an inappropriate comment but Rinko quickly stopped him. Nanako looked on fondly, agreeing wholeheartedly with Rinko.

**A.N.**_Thank you soooo much to everyone who followed and/or favourited. Also a special thanks to my 3 reviewers. I love them so much. Now I know why authors always bug the readers to review. So please please please (must do everthing in three's) review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I also forgot the disclaimer last time so..._

_I don't own prince of tennis and I never will._

_I'm not going to do anymore disclaimers. This is it for the whole story. I don't see the point in them. Okay... I think that is everything... Oh also thanks to Nike-chan for telling me about my mistake. If anyone finds any mistakes don't hesitate to tell me and I'll fix them up asap. I think that really is it now so thanks for reading and until the next chapter _

_Cya._


	3. Chapter 3 - The Senpai's Get Suspicious

**_Chapter 3 – The Senpai's Get Suspicious_**

Sakuno woke up to a ringing coming from the table beside the bed. She drowsily turned to see what the noise was, only to be met by hand hitting her face. She bolted upright to be met by the sight of two drowsy catlike eyes starting to open.

"_Why hasn't that damn clock stopped ringing yet?" _Ryoma thought as he opened his eyes to see why the clock was still ringing. What he saw was Ryuzaki Sakuno looking at him in shock. It didn't take long for Ryoma to piece things together and realise he had hit Ryuzaki instead of his alarm clock, as he was now sleeping on a futon on the floor instead of his bed.

"Gomen Ryuzaki" he said drowsily and stood up and walked around to the alarm clock. Sakuno's eyes followed him all the way, wide in shock. Never before had she seen Ryoma apologize to someone so easily and without being bitter about it.

"_I guess Ryoma doesn't really wake up straight away." _Sakuno thought as she fell back on the pillows, she wasn't really a morning person either. She took a deep breath as she prepared to get up for the day, but as she did so stopped short. The sheets, the pillow, everything smelt like Ryoma. She looked down at the clothes she had borrowed from Ryoma to sleep in. They smelt like Ryoma as well. Sakuno blushed as she remembered Ryoma throwing the clothes to her the night before. Due to sleepiness she hadn't reacted the night before, but had just gone to the bathroom to change. Now however, she was blushing ten shades of red.

"_I can't believe I'm wearing Ryoma's clothes" _She thought. She looked down at the oversized white shirt and red shorts she was wearing. They were very comfortable to sleep in, much more comfortable than she though they would be. In fact, Sakuno didn't want to get out of them. She heard footsteps, and suddenly remembered she wasn't alone in the room, and looked up to see Ryoma walking back to the futon. Sakuno looked on puzzled as Ryoma laid back down on the futon to go back to sleep.

Sakuno didn't know what to do. Should she try to get him to get up or just leave him? Luckily Rinko chose that moment to enter the room.

"Ohaiyo Ryoma, Sakuno-chan" Rinko said cheerily. A groan could be heard from Ryoma as he turned over to look away from the door. "Sakuno-chan, I've got your uniform here" Rinko said holding out said uniform. Sakuno was quick to get out of bed and over to Rinko to take her uniform.

"Arigatou Rinko-san" Sakuno thanked Rinko. She just smiled back at Sakuno before asking what was really on her mind.

"How is your ankle feeling this morning?" Sakuno had to take a moment to contemplate her answer.

"It's feeling a lot better, just a little tender. Thank you Rinko-san." Rinko smiled upon hearing this.

"You should be fine to walk to school with Ryoma then. I'll strap your ankle before you leave, and you'll have to walk slowly."

"Ariatou Rinko-san" Sakuno replied shyly, and walked off to get changed. Rinko then turned her sights on Ryoma.

"Come on Ryoma, get up." Her only reply was him turning further away from her. Rinko then had a devious idea.

"Okay then Ryoma, I guess I'll just have to show Sakuno some of you embarrassing baby photos." This got Ryoma to turn to face his mother. Even if the reaction was small, she still got him to react, which was a win in Rinko's books, and she now knew he would in fact get up, so she could leave.

A few minutes later…

Sakuno was first to come down for breakfast met Nanako and Rinko in the kitchen. Seeing that they were cooking breakfast Sakuno offered to help, she was actually quite good at cooking despite what Ryoma said. Together they made a great breakfast in no time, with a mixture of western and Japanese food. Due to this they decided to have a buffet instead of making dividing the food into meals. The three of them took the food out to the table to see that Nanjiroh had come to sit and was reading the newspaper. Ryoma still had not come down, Sakuno noted.

Just as the food was all set out Ryoma came in still looking slightly drowsy. They all then sat down and began to tuck into the food.

Sakuno, who had only ever rarely had western food, tried all the western dishes that Rinko had prepared. She was enjoying the toast and bacon and eggs and waffles that Rinko had made. As she was eating however she noted that Ryoma didn't even touch any of the western food, only the Japanese food.

"Shouldn't you two leave now? You're going to be late if you don't." Nanako said, referring to Ryoma and Sakuno, while looking at the clock. The rest of the table then followed her gaze to see that it was about 20 minutes until morning practice started. The two started towards the door; however Rinko stopped them before they could make it.

"Hang on. I have to bandage Sakuno's ankle. She can't go to school without it being strapped." Ryoma just looked at the clock and Sakuno sat back down to allow Rinko to bandage her ankle. After about ten minutes Rinko had finished and informed Sakuno of what she can and can't do, and the two were heading out the door.

"Ryoma, make sure you walk slowly for Sakuno!" Rinko called as the two made their way out the front gate.

"Hai" Ryoma called back and the two were on their way.

They walked in silence and soon Sakuno started to feel a tad awkward.

"G-gomen for m-making you late for p-practice R-Ryoma-kun" She said to break through the silence.

"Che, Buchou will make me run laps again." This just made Sakuno feel worse, so she just decided to stay in silence. As the walked however, Sakuno kept trying to think of a way to help Ryoma. It wasn't his fault he was late, it was hers. Suddenly an idea popped into her head.

"Ne, R-Ryoma-kun, I'll tell obaa-chan that it's not your fault we're late, it's mine. Hopefully she can get Tezuka to let you off easy." Ryoma just looked at her and nodded in agreement. This caused Sakuno to smile, knowing that she could help Ryoma out, after all he'd done for her last night.

They entered the gates of Seigaku ten minutes after practice had started. It wasn't an odd occurrence for Ryoma to be late, but what caught the eyes of the regulars was that he arrived with Sakuno. If she wanted to watch morning practice she usually came with her grandma. The regulars being themselves, of course, came up with many wild ideas as to why they had arrived together and couldn't wait for a chance to question Ryoma about it.

"Echizen, 50 laps!" yelled Tezuka in his commanding captain's voice. Sakuno was quick to reach her grandmother and started talking to her as Ryoma started to run. Sakuno quickly explained what happened this morning to her grandma and asked her to ask Tezuka to lessen the punishment. By the time the coach had had a quick chat with the captain Ryoma had just finished his fifth lap. Tezuka's voice once again rang out through the courts.

"Echizen, that's enough, start practicing with the others." Now this got everyone to look up and stare. Never before had they seen Tezuka take back or shorten a punishment. If anyone ever argued, even with a valid excuse, he only just increased the punishment. It took a whole minute before practice returned to normal, with the help of a lot of scary stares from Tezuka.

After the shocks that they had all received during practice, the regulars practically jumped on Ryoma as soon as the entered the change rooms.

"Ochibi!" Eiji yelled as he wrapped his arms around Ryoma's shoulders. Momo came up to him net and copied his senpai's actions.

"Echizen!"

"_What now?" _Ryoma thought.

"Ne, Ochibi, why did you arrive with Sakuno-chan this morning?" Eiji inquired in a voice which said "I know exactly why I just want you to admit it"

"Yeah Echizen, why?" said Momoshiro, mimicking Eiji's voice. Ryoma who seemed dense to their implied accusations simply relied with the truth, not seeing the need to hide it anyway.

"We walked to school together. Why wouldn't we arrive together?"

"And why did you walk together Echizen?" Momoshiro took up the line of inquiry.

"She stayed at my house last night." Ryoma stated bluntly, without any hesitation what-so-ever. Eiji and Momoshiro's arms fell from Ryoma's neck in shock, allowing Ryoma to start getting changed, and the attention of all the regulars was now on Ryoma.

"WHAT!" Eiji yelled, causing Ryoma to flinch.

"Ryuzaki stayed at my house last night" Ryoma repeated starting to get annoyed.

"Where did she sleep?" Momoshiro, still in shock, asked the first question that came to mind.

"In my bed" Ryoma replied, nonchalant. Everyone's, except Fuji's, jaws dropped at what Ryoma had just said, their minds having been overloaded from his last statement. Fuji smiled his characteristic smile and continued the questioning, as everybody else's minds seemed to have run too far ahead of themselves and they seemed to forget who they were talking to.

"Where did you sleep then Echizen?" Fuji asked. Ryoma looked up at Fuji as he answered.

"On a futon on the floor of my room." He replied, as nonchalant as ever. The rest of the regular's minds then started to work again and they all visibly relaxed. Oishi was the next one to ask Ryoma a question.

"Why did Tezuka reduce the number of laps you had to run Echizen?" Ryoma had to think for a moment for the answer to this question. He didn't actually know what Ryuzaki or the coach said, or what Tezuka was thinking, so he just said what he did know.

"It wasn't my fault we were late." He said simply. None of his senpai's seemed to believe this answer, as they all stared at him with looks saying "yeah right"

"Come on Echizen, we want to know how to get out of running laps as well." Momo whined. When Ryoma just looked at them blankly Eiji turned to Inui, who always seemed to know everything.

"Inuii! How did Ochibi get out of running laps?" Eiji whined to Inui, looking at him hopefully. Inui just looked at his trusty notebook and said,

"I have insufficient data to answer" It was then that they knew they would probably never know. If Inui didn't have any data on this and couldn't come up with anything, then what hope was there? Eiji turned to his trump card, his last hope.

"Fuujii! Do you know?" Fuji smiled his knowing smile and replied

"He must have had a good reason" Smile still gracing his face. This just confused his team mates even more.

"But Ochibi never told Tezuka a reason. And excuses only make Tezuka give even more laps" Eiji contradicted his friends notion.

"Ahhh, but I never said Ryoma was the one who gave Tezuka the excuse. Also if you try to give Tezuka an excuse yourself he will give you more laps, but what if other people stand up for you. People he can't punish?" This caused everyone, even Inui to think.

"Who gave Tezuka the excuse then? And what is it?" asked Oishi, just starting to put the pieces together.

"The coach's granddaughter told the coach who told Tezuka. As for the excuse, let's just say Ryoma can be very gallant." Everyone turned to Ryoma to see his reaction to what Fuji said and see if he was right, however when they looked their kohai was already leaving the room, having already changed while they were talking. The others quickly changed so they could try and catch up to him.

**A.N. **_Hey everyone. First off, Thanks to my followers and reviewers. Every new review I get make me so excited I jump around and dance and tell anyone who is around me "I GOT A NEW REVIEW" They make me so hay so lease continue to review. Second, this chapter seems to have a lot of filler to me but I feel it is necessary. I have the story line planned out to a certain point in my head and this is an important part. Not in relation to the story in any way, just to my brain. So sorry if anyone gets bored in this part. Third, this is a RyoSaku fanfic and I want to have some RyoSaku moments and eventually get them together, I'm just not sure how. So if anyone has any idea's they are very much appreciated. Also for them to actually get together please wait until I have posted all the story up to where I have planned it until you give me idea's for that, coz something might change and I won't be able to use an idea that I might really like sooo... yeah. Anyway I'm gonna try to add more RyoSaku. Please tell me if you agree or disagree to this so I know. I wanna write a story you will enjoy reading. I think that's all now... Thanks again to my followers and favouriters, it really makes me happy to know you like the story and the people who take time to review. It really makes me so happy and I love to know what you think. OK ENOUGH OF MY BLABBING!_

_Thanks for reading and until net chapter,_

_Cya._


	4. Chapter 4 - The Second Attack

**_Chapter 4 – The Second Attack_**

After Sakuno told her grandmother about what had happened and why they were late her grandmother was quick to go tell Tezuka. Sakuno sat on the benches anxiously waiting. When she heard Tezuka dismiss Ryoma from his laps, Sakuno sighed in relief.

"_Thank goodness. Ryoma really doesn't deserve to be punished because he helped me." _She decided to stay on the bench where she was as she had a nice view of the tennis courts and could see Ryoma clearly having a match against Momo-senpai. After a while of watching the regulars play Fuji came and grabbed his water bottle from his bag under the bench and sat down beside her.

"Ohaiyo, Sakuno-chan." He said in greeting to his coach's daughter.

"O-Ohaiyo Fuji-senpai" Sakuno replied a little surprised.

"Sakuno-chan, what did you do to your ankle?" Fuji asked intending to get the conversation flowing.

"_If I want to get information about Ryoma I'll have to go around the back way." _Unknowingly Fuji's question was the exact question he needed to ask to get the information he desired.

"O-oh," stuttered Sakuno, looking down at her bandaged ankle. She didn't think the bandage was that noticeable, apparently she was wrong.

"Don't worry Sakuno-chan, I'm very observant, it's not that noticeable." Fuji replied, seeming to be able to read her mind.

"O-okay, w-well some people attacked me last night. Th-thankfully R-Ryoma-kun saved me from them." Sakuno started blushing at the mention of her rescue the night before. This however got Fuji's attention, not just the fact Ryoma saved her, but also that someone tried to attack her. However, knowing Ryoma he was sure he got them back for hurting Sakuno's ankle, so he decided to focus on the rescue art of her statement.

"Ah, so is that why you two were late this morning?"

"H-Hai" Sakuno's blush just seemed to increase, intriguing Fuji.

"Is that also why you got Ryoma out of doing laps this morning?" Sakuno was shocked that he knew this.

"_I guess he saw me talking to obaa-chan when we arrived" _thought Sakuno, impressed at her senpai's observational skills.

"Y-you are really observant aren't you Fuji-senpai. R-Ryoma took me to his house to get help for my ankle. It's because of me that he was late to practice this morning, so I told obaa-chan and asked her to take away Ryoma-kun's punishment." Fuji smiled upon hearing this.

"_Aah, so that's why Tezuka took back his laps. I never knew Ryoma was so kind." _ Before Fuji could enquire more a strong voice rang out through the courts calling for everyone to assemble.

"Thank you for the chat Sakuno-chan" Fuji said before he left to go join everyone else. This left Sakuno all alone to her thoughts, all of which seemed to revolve around Ryoma. Once she had stopped daydreaming she realized she was all alone on the tennis courts.

"_Practice must have ended already." _Not wanting to be late to class, Sakuno left the tennis courts and began making her way to the school building. She decided to take a shortcut through the grove of trees that barely anyone knew about, to make the walk easier on her ankle. She wouldn't have to make it through the fan-girls who hang around after morning practice, and this way was shorter.

The wind blew through the trees, causing goose bumps to appear on Sakuno's arms. The wind was starting to get chilly; a sure sign that winter was coming. She trod on the crisp autumn leaves, watching as the crinkle beneath her feet. Something was off though. The leaves were disturbed, like many people had come this way already.

"_Have the regulars already left? I didn't think I was daydreaming that long." _She thought puzzled. The only other people she knew of who knew this short cut was the regulars, who often used it to get away from the fan-girls. Sakuno decided she had better speed up, she was going to be late if the regulars had already gone off to class; Ryoma was always one of the last to enter the classroom. Just as she started to hurry however, she heard the distinct sound of a tennis ball being served. Before she even had time to react, a tennis ball flew right past her head. Had she been going any slower it would have hit her. She stopped and turned to see who had hit the ball and came face to face with the people who had attacked her the night before.

Ryoma hurried along the barely visible path, though the grove of trees. If he was lucky, he would be able to make it to class before his senpai's caught up to him.

"_Jeez, what's with the senpai's and all their questions? It's really annoying and tedious" _Ryoma half thought half grumbled as he made his way through the comforting trees that kept annoying girls away.

"_Well, except Ryuzaki. She knows about this shortcut as well. She's not actually annoying though… just clumsy." _Ryoma mused on these thoughts until he saw the long haired girl in front of him, but something wasn't right. Her face was pale and even from this distance he could see she was breathing fast and shaking. His feet went from a fast walk to a jog as he made his way over to her. When he heard the sound of a tennis ball being served however, and saw her close her eyes and flinch, he sprinted over to the girl tearing his racquet from his bag. He arrived just in time, yet again, to hit the ball away.

When Sakuno didn't feel the ball hitting her yet again, she opened her eyes to a familiar sight. There stood Ryoma, panting from having run to get to her in time. Sakuno was filled with relief to see his familiar features and his ebony hair, which was rustling in the wind.

"R-Ryoma-kun, a-arigatou" Sakuno mumbled shyly, slightly embarrassed that they were in practically the same position they were in the night before: Ryoma saving Sakuno from these tennis thugs.

"I'm glad you could show up kid, now we can deal with the both of you at once. It would have been more convenient though if you came after we dealt with the girl. Could you go away for a few minutes and come back later?" The leader asked cockily with a mean glint in his eyes.

"You still think you can do anything to us after your failed attempt last night?" Ryoma asked, equally as cocky, staring at them with his eyes as hard as stone. In reply to this the leader simply smiled and looked around him, his aura oozing confidence.

Sakuno took that moment to look at the gang too and realized something.

"R-Ryoma-kun, t-there are more of them than there were last night." After she pointed the fact out Ryoma could not dispute it. There was more than double the number of people. "_Will I be able to keep that many balls away from Ryuzaki coming in from all different directions?" _ Ryoma didn't know if he could. It would be almost impossible. He couldn't deal with all of them all by himself, and Ryuzaki was, not only poor at tennis but was also injured. "_Who else could help though?" _Then the answer came to him. The senpai would be hurrying to catch up to him after he left the change room in such a hurry. All they had to do was keep them from attacking until the senpai came, then they could fight them off.

"Ryuzaki" Ryoma whispered, "The senpai will be coming by soon, we just have to hold them off and stop them attacking until then." Sakuno's face lightened slightly at the news, but then fell again.

"H-how will we d-do that Ryoma-kun?" Ryoma stayed silent, his ebony bangs covering his eyes. In truth he didn't know, but he had to find a way. The sound of a single racquet hitting a ball rang out through the silence of the grove, and the whooshing of a tennis ball flying through the air towards them could also be heard. Ryoma, quickly acting on instinct, turned to face the ball and sent it right back where it came from. That ball was quickly followed by three others, which Ryoma returned in quick succession. Then an idea came to Ryoma as he realized what exactly they were doing. Ryoma's trademark smirk flashed momentarily across his face

"_What are they doing?" _thought Sakuno, "_Why don't they hit all the balls at once?" _ It was then that Sakuno noticed a smirk grace Ryoma's face. Sakuno cocked her head at him cutely in confusion, to which Ryoma just quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the nearest tree, blocking off several directions in which ball could come flying toward the pair. Upon seeing this, the gang decided to pick up their game a bit, hitting ten balls towards the young pair. Ryoma managed to him them all away, but not as skilfully as he was able to the night before. Those among the group of thugs who were present last night noticed this and grinned evilly.

"I see you are getting nervous kid, can you only hit away ten balls?" the leader of the gang cooed, causing laughter from the other gang members. Of course Sakuno noticed Ryoma's drop in skill, but just couldn't understand it, and knew the gang members were way off base.

"_Ryoma-kun thrives on pressure. The stronger the opponent, the stronger Ryoma-kun gets."_ Sakuno thought "_So why is he having trouble returning the balls which he returned easily the night before?" _She continued to watch as the number of balls went to eleven, and Ryoma barely managed to return them yet again. It was then that Sakuno noticed something.

"_He's not struggling." _Eyes widened considerably at this realization. Sakuno had been to enough of Ryoma's matches to notice the tell-tale signs of when Ryoma was in trouble. Right now he was showing none of them. His muscles weren't tense, nor was he pulling the strings of his racquet or adding agitated, but the most noticeable thing was his eyes. They didn't have the look of intense concentration that the often took when he played seriously. Honestly, he seemed a little distracted. Even after this revelation, Sakuno was a clueless as ever.

"_Why is Ryoma acting like he's struggling?" _She continued to watch as with each extra ball added Ryoma's quality of ball returns remained the same, but his concentration level increased with each new ball. Sakuno then gasped softly, and her eyes widened yet again. She had suddenly realized what Ryoma was doing.

"_He's buying time, just like he said he would." _A small smile came to her face, which she quickly hid behind her hand, before the gang caught sign of it. Ryoma was pretending to struggle so they would only gradually increase the number of balls. When Ryoma hit them all easily, they went up in large numbers. Now that he's struggling, they are only adding one ball at a time.

"_They are so cruel" _Sakuno thought, also realizing the thug's intentions through Ryoma's plan. They wanted to break Ryoma. Crush his spirit. They no longer just wanted to hurt them; they wanted to make them suffer for the night before. If it was anyone other than the young tennis prodigy (or maybe the other regulars; or the regulars from some of their tough opponents, like Hyotei or Rikkaidai, but that's getting off topic…) then this would have been over a while ago, but even the prince was starting to struggle for real now. Sakuno could tell from the tenseness of his muscles, and his anxious fidgeting. They were getting close to fifteen balls now and Ryoma was only just managing to return them. Balls would start slipping through soon.

"_Please hurry senpai" _Hoped Sakuno silently.

**A.N. **_Hey! I'm not sure if I like this chapter that much or not :/ but I'm gonna go with it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and THANK YOU to guest who was the ONLY person who reviewed the last chapter. I'm not necessarily complaining coz I've gotten quite a few reviews and more followers and favouriters aswell. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS FOLLOWED OR FAVOURITED MY STORY! It feels really nice to know you like my story and want to know when I update. But it would be nice for you to tell me in a review... I'd like to know what you guys think of the plot or if there is anything I could do to improve my writing or if I'm making the characters OOC. I really want the characters to be in character. I just really love reviews. So anything you say I'll enjoy reading. I know I nag about reviews alot (like in every chapter) and I'm sorry. I know that readers really don't like being nagged for reviews but... I REALLY WANT REVIEWS! Okay, how about we make a deal. If you guys give me some reviews for this chapter I will stop going on about reviews and only say "Please Review" at the end of each chapter, deal? Btw you can accept the deal or not in a review (see my hint there) OK enough of my review addiction._

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading. Until next chapter_

_Cya_


	5. Chapter 5 - Senpai to the RescueSorta

**_Chapter 5 – Senpai to the Rescue… Sorta_**

It seemed the group had finally reached Ryoma's threshold, as his racquet failed to make contact with one of the balls, said ball hitting him square on the chest. Ryoma grunted in pain and stumbled a little but still managed to keep his balance. Sakuno gasped and tears started to form in her eyes.

"_This is all my fault" _She thought, _"If Ryoma didn't protect me he wouldn't get hurt" _The tears started to leak from her eyes and onto her face, running down her cheeks. She didn't want Ryoma to get hurt, especially not for her. She then heard a sound which was music to her ears. Footsteps were coming towards them, at a fast pace. Out from around the corner came all the tennis regulars, including Tezuka. Everyone stood still in shock, or relief for the two youngest people present. The gang quickly dispersed with Kaidou and Momo going after them. The rest of the regulars quickly came to see if the two freshmen were alright.

"Are you two alright?" asked Oishi as soon as they came up to the pair.

"We're fine" said Ryoma, who stood panting and seeming to move a little gingerly. Sakuno could tell by looking at him that he wasn't as all right as he appeared. He was moving with less confidence than normal, barely noticeable but after seeing him get hit by that tennis ball it seemed to stand out by miles to Sakuno.

"A-are you sure R-Ryoma-kun, y-you don't l-look alright" she said nervously, not wanting Ryoma to be mad at her, but also wanting to make sure he was treated properly. As soon as the words were out of her mouth the attention of the senpai's was immediately on Ryoma, but Ryoma's attention was on the shy girl, as he started at her with a half accusing half curious gaze.

"_Just when I thought I could get away from the senpai's without them knowing… But how did she notice….Not even the senpai's noticed I was hurt, how could she… I suppose she did see me get hit, but I don't think I showed that much pain…" _Ryoma pondered as he waited for the girl to explain herself.

Sakuno decided to address the curious half of his gaze. She lowered he head, to hide her tears which were starting to return after drying up due to the relief of being rescued by the senpai's, as she explained.

"Y-you g-got hit with the ball, a-and your m-moving more gingerly than normal…" She stuttered, half because she was crying a little, half because she was nervous about Roma's reaction. Ryoma just stared in shock, as did the senpai's, even Tezuka. Sakuno noticed something none of the regulars noticed, and, unlike the regulars, she was not known for her keen observational skills, rather her lack of them. Oishi was the first to snap out of his shock as he remembered the first part of her statement.

"Where were you hit Echizen?" The young prodigy looked at Oishi, then lowered his head and answered.

"My chest" he sighed in resignation, knowing very well that he was going to be forced to go to the infirmary. Before anyone could force Ryoma to the infirmary however, Momo and Kaidou returned.

"Bastard's" Kaidou muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Momo to hear.

"They got away from us, we didn't even catch one of them" Momo recounted sadly, confirming what the others had already guessed. Tezuka then decided to take control of the situation.

"Echizen" his commanding voice caught everyone's attention "Go to the infirmary, Ryuzaki-san you go with him. Oishi, you come with me to tell Ryuzaki sensei what has happened. The rest of you go to class." With that said Tezuka and Oishi left to go find Ryuzaki sensei, leaving Ryoma and Sakuno to the mercy of the rest of the tennis regulars.

"What was all that about, why do Echizen and Sakuno-chan need to go to the infirmary?" Momo asked, having missed out on the conversation that had taken place a few moments ago. Eiji put on a sly face and answered the question.

"Ochibi got hit by the ball while protecting Sakuno-chan." He said slyly, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Momo quickly got the idea and adopted a sly smirk and voice as well.

"I didn't know Echizen was so heroic!" he turned to Eiji, "did you Eiji-senpai?" Eiji put on a fake contemplative look.

"Why no Momo, I had no idea! But then again, I'm not a pretty girl in need of saving." Eiji said winking at Ryoma and Momo. Sakuno's cheeks were tinged pink at this comment from her senpai, and only got worse as she remembered all the times Ryoma had saved her.

"_I guess Ryoma-kun does save me a lot, even when we first met he saved me." _The braided girl remembered fondly. Inui then spoke up.

"Echizen has saved Ryuzaki-san a total of 12 times, as far as I know" Everyone looked at Inui, shocked that he had been keeping data on how many times Ryoma had saved Sakuno, and the fact that the number was so high.

"_Has it really been that many times?_" Ryoma and Sakuno thought together. They both knew it had been a lot, but not that much. However, before they could ponder anymore, Inui continued.

"Additionally, Fuji said just before that Echizen 'can be very gallant'." All eyes turned to Fuji who just stood there smiling away, before finally giving in and answering the unspoken question.

"I had a nice little chat to Sakuno during our drink break. She told me how she hurt her ankle." When Fuji mentioned this, the rest of the regulars eyes went to the young girl's ankle, which they then saw was strapped. Fuji then continued. "And then about how Ryoma was very heroic last night as well." Fuji finished, smile never leaving his face. The colour of Sakuno's face was rapidly turning red due to the combination of Fuji's comments and Ryoma's accusatory glare. After a few more seconds of glaring from Ryoma he gave up and sighed.

"Come on Ryuzaki" He said and went to pick up his bag, wincing as he did so. Sakuno stood still for a moment, before remembering Tezuka's orders and hurrying, as fast as she could with her sprained ankle, to the now waiting Ryoma. She looked on worriedly as Ryoma dragged his bag along the dirt. Obviously his chest hurt too much for him to put on his shoulder, and since everyone now knew there was no point in pretending.

"R-Ryoma-kun, m-maybe I could c-carry your bag for you?" Sakuno asked, wanting to help, but knowing how stubborn and proud he was. Ryoma looked over to Sakuno, his eyes slightly widened. After a second or two he just shook his head and turned his head back to the front. Sakuno was about to insist that she take his bag, before she could however, Momo came up and snatched the bag from Ryoma's arms. Both Ryoma and Sakuno looked up surprised at their senpai and then saw the other regulars had also come along.

"We can't let our little kouhai's go without making sure they'll be okay." Momo said, the other regulars nodding in agreement. Sakuno was touched by how much they care and smiled up at all of them. Ryoma just turned his head forward, and a small smile graced his face. The group slowly made their way to the infirmary, Ryoma still in a bit of pain from being hit, and Sakuno's ankle still sore from the night before.

By the time they made their way to the infirmary classes had already begun. They were all thankful for this, not wanting to be swamped by fan-girls. The nurse took Ryoma into a curtained off area of the infirmary to treat him, while the others stayed in the main area, waiting for him.

"What happened Sakuno-san?" Kawamura asked. All the regular's eyes were on Sakuno, as she blinked up at them. She then looked down at her feet and told them what had happened. She told them about the night before, and how Ryoma had saved her, then about how they came back, and Ryoma had saved her again, and gotten hurt.

As soon as Sakuno finished, the curtain hiding Ryoma from view was pulled back. There sat Ryoma on the bed, shirtless. The regulars who were accustomed to the sight didn't have any reaction to this what-so-ever, Sakuno on the other hand… Her face was the colour of tomato. She didn't think it was suitable for her to look. "_Why did they open the curtain?" _When her eyes met the large tennis ball shaped bruise however, her shyness left as guilt set in. It was all her fault that Ryoma had gotten hurt. As the nurse came back from wherever she went Sakuno turned to her.

"Don't worry. He's not hurt badly." She said, to the relief of everyone, especially Sakuno. "He's just got some severe bruising. It will go away in a few days and should stop hurting by tomorrow. It will be pretty painful for a while so just be careful and bear with it okay. You can take some of these tablets if it gets too painful." Ryoma nodded and turned to grab his shirt and put it back on. Oishi then came in.

"How are you Echizen? Are you okay?" Ryoma finished putting his shirt back on before answering.

"I'm fine. Just bruises." He replied nonchalantly. Oishi smiled upon hearing the news and turned to the others.

"Weren't you supposed to go to class?" The others just shrugged. Oishi sighed and turned to address Ryoma and Sakuno. "Tezuka and Ryuzaki sensei want you to go to her office after you finish here." Ryoma nodded and got off the bed and grabbed his bag, this time slinging it over his shoulder, but not without wincing. He then turned to Sakuno.

"Come on" He said, jolting Sakuno from her musings. She grabbed her bag and followed Ryoma out the door, before anyone else could say a word.

As they were walking along the corridors, Sakuno continued to think about Ryoma's injury.

"_It's my fault that Ryoma is hurt. The nurse said it would be painful." _Sakuno thought gloomily.

"Gomen, Ryoma-kun" She said sadly. Not stuttering for once. Ryoma turned to her in confusion. "If you weren't trying to protect me you wouldn't have been hurt. I-it's all my fault!" She said, starting to cry. Ryoma looked at her, eyes wide. He then lowered his head.

"Baka" Sakuno looked up her tear stained face astonished. Before she could react, Ryoma continued. "You didn't hit that ball did you?" Sakuno shook her head, "Then how is it your fault? It's the fault of those thugs who attacked us." Sakuno couldn't find any way to react to his words. She stared wide eyed at Ryoma for a good 10 seconds before she nodded and wiped away her tears. What Sakuno didn't see was Ryoma's sigh of relief. For some reason he just didn't want Sakuno to blame herself for this. Usually he didn't care if someone needlessly blamed themselves, but for some reason she was different.

"_Probably because we are going to see her grandma"_ Ryoma thought, trying to explain his strange behaviour. Sakuno looked back up at Ryoma, all traces of tears gone, and smiled at him. "Arigatou Ryoma-kun" Ryoma nodded and continued to walk towards Ryuzaki-sensei's office. Halfway to the office, the regulars came up and joined them.

"S-senpai's? What are you doing here?" Sakuno asked shocked.

"We're coming with you of course!" Momo replied as if it was obvious. "There is no way we are getting in trouble for being late to class."

"Yeah, we don't wanna go to class nya." Eiji added. Ryoma just sighed, along with a few of the sensible regulars that were being dragged along. They made their way to Ryuzaki-sensei's office and knocked on the door. Tezuka opened the door to let them all in, glaring at the regulars, who were all skipping class to be there. Ryuzaki sensei went over to Ryoma and Sakuno immediately to make sure they were all right.

"Arigatou Ryoma, that's twice you've saved Sakuno now. Thank you." She said sincerely. Ryoma used his hair to cover his eyes as he replied,

"Hn" Ryuzaki-sensei then sat down and asked them to explain everything that had happed just before as well as the night before. Just after Ryoma and Sakuno had finished explaining an important detail popped into Sakuno's head, causing her to gasp loudly. Everyone's eyes turned to Sakuno, but she looked to Ryoma.

"Remember what the leader said last night?" Ryoma just looked at her blankly which caused her to sigh, reminding her once again how horrible his memory was. "He said 'We will get you for this kid. You may be able to beat ten of us, but how will you do against twenty, or even thirty. We will all come after you, and we will finish what we started girly'. Those words exactly" Everyone was shocked by what Sakuno had said.

"This is bigger than we thought" Ryuzaki-sensei broke the silence "This gang has actively threatened Sakuno and Ryoma and proven they will live up to their threat. I'm calling the police." That left everyone gobsmacked. No one expected the police to get involved in this. Before anyone could argue, Ryuzaki-sensei picked up the phone and dialled the police station.

**A.N.** _HIII! Okay so I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I don't really remember what I put in it but... Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to those who reviewed and just reminding you that if you have any suggestions for the plot or my writing (I know I'm not that good a writer but I hope the story line makes up for it) they are all very much welcomed. _

_Because I got 2 reviews for the last chapter I guess I have to live up to my deal. Please R&R. Thank you for reading and until next chapter,_

_Cya._


	6. Chapter 6 - Staying for How Long?

_**Chapter 6 – Staying for… How Long?**_

Ryoma was exhausted. Re-telling the same events over and over was a very tedious task, and Ryoma did not do well with tedious tasks. After explaining what happened to the senpai's and Ryuzaki-sensei, it took all his effort to keep talking to the police and not just walk out. After he and Sakuno had finished talking to them after almost half an hour they were finally allowed to get a break. They exited the office to find the senpai's waiting outside.

"You're still here?" Ryoma asked, in a royally foul mood and just walked off to go find a vending machine.

"Bastard" Kaidou muttered after hearing the cocky freshman's words.

"What's his problem?" Momo asked the group, referring to the retreating back of Ryoma.

"I guess he is just sick of constantly having to tell people what happened." Kawamura said, to which everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Hey, where's Sakuno-chan nya?"

Ryoma's footstep rang throughout the hall as he searched for a vending machine. The only thought going through his head being, "_I really want a ponta". _His search brought him outside, to the tennis courts, where he finally came across a vending machine. A cool drink was just what he needed to calm himself down. "_Honestly, that was so tedious. How many times did I have to go through what happened?" _As he bent down to grab grab his drink, Ryoma winced in pain. He was actually starting to think he might need that medicine. This was actually quite painful. It hurt each time he took a breath, or when he bend down.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" He turned around to see Sakuno standing behind him. Ryoma straightened up this time without wincing, Sakuno still looked worried however. "M-maybe you should have some medicine R-Ryoma-kun." She lowered her head shyly as she said that. She didn't want Ryoma mad at her, but if he was in pain it was better to just take the medicine.

"I'm fine" Ryoma replied, taking a sip of his ponta, but Sakuno wasn't convinced. She had seen him wincing as he bent to get his drink. She knew he was in pain.

"Ryoma-kun, just take the medicine. I know it's hurting you, I saw you wincing when you picked up your drink. No-one has to know you took the medicine." Sakuno stopped for a moment to take a breath before continuing. "What's the point of you being in pain. If the medicine will take some of it away, then just take it. You don't have to look tough all the time, I won't tell anyone." After her rant was finished Ryoma just stared at her for a moment wide eyed, before sighing and lowering his head. He knew better than to fight her when she got like this. This was just like the time when Horio had to stand in for him and had gotten into trouble for bragging. She insisted that he help him and without Horio even buying him one ponta. He was also thinking about taking the medicine anyway. So Ryoma reached into his pocket and pulled out two tablets. He put them in his mouth and washed them down with his ponta. Sakuno smiled relieved. She had been worried about how Ryoma would react, thankfully he complied and took the medicine.

Ryoma finished his drink and threw it into the trash can, causing Sakuno to stare at him amazed. The trash can was a good ten meters away, she would never be able to do that in a million years.

"Come on Ryuzaki, we should get back." Ryoma started to walk back towards the school. Sakuno shook her head and followed Ryoma.

"Ochibi! You're back! And Sakuno-chan!" Eiji greeted the two freshman when they arrived back outside Ryuzaki-sensei's office. The door then opened and out came Ryuzaki-sensei.

"Perfect timing you two. Come on in. All of you this time" Ryuzaki-sensei said looking at all the regulars who had waited outside this whole time, making sure their kouhai's were ok but also getting out of class. The whole group entered the office and took seats on scattered chairs around the room. Once they were all seated the police officer addressed them.

"It seems there is a gang around that is using tennis to target people. They are ruthless and if someone gets away from them they are know to go after them continuously until they finally get them. We have had numerous reports come in about this gang, but as of yet still haven't been able to catch them. We have gotten certain members but there are so many we doubt this will have much of an effect. It's very dangerous for you two to go anywhere alone or without protection." He said referring to Ryoma and Sakuno. "We have decided for your safety and comfort that it would be best for Ryuzaki-san to stay with the Echizen's until this has all been cleared up" Everyone in the room was shocked to hear this, but the officer wasn't finished yet. "We have thought this through thoroughly and instead of assigning members of the force to follow you wherever you go, we will rely on yours and your father's tennis skill." At this point he gestured to Ryoma, "Along with the skills of the rest of you" This time he gestured to the rest of the regulars "We have decided at least two of you will walk with them to and from school each day until the gang has been court."

Everyone was silent and shocked at this information. No-one moved or made a sound. Everyone in the room seemed to be frozen. Tezuka was the first to regain his cool, which he seemed to not even loose in the first place. "Do you have any idea as to how long it will take for you to take the gang into custody?" Everyone's heads turned to Tezuka as the police officer answered.

"We do not currently have a time period in which this task will be achieved, however the knowledge that they are going after Ryuzaki-san and Echizen-san is very helpful and will shorten the time it takes greatly. Thank you for contacting us, this lead is very helpful in out investigation, especially the knowledge of which tennis court they practice on. We expect it to take at least a month however, possibly longer" Everyone's eyes widened at this new.

The same thought was going through everyone's heads "_A MONTH!" _

As no-one seemed to have any more questions the police officer left, saying he would keep an eye on them.

"That was unexpected" Oishi said to break the silence. "I don't even think Inui could have predicted that" the atmosphere lightened at his statement.

"Actually Oishi I predicted something along those lines" This caused everyone to either laugh or smile.

Momo went over to Ryoma and placed his hand on his head, moving Ryoma's head around as he did so. "Looks like we have to look after you hey Echizen?" Momo said laughing.

"That hurts Momo-senpai" Ryoma muttered. Laughter filled the room after this and the atmosphere lightened considerably.

"Well you should all go to class. Sakuno, I'll bring some clothes over for you tonight. You go home with Ryoma. The rest of you can choose who goes with them." The group then left the office.

"Awww, now we have to go back to class." Momo said, Eiji nodding his head vigorously in agreement. "See you at practice" Momo said, waving to everyone as he and Kaidou went the other way to their classroom, weaving their way through the students crowding the hall.

"I guess lunch has started" Kawamura said, observing the crowds of people in the halls. Ryoma and Sakuno broke off from their senpai's to go back to their classroom. They walked in silence until they got to the classroom, where they were bombarded by their friends.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ECHIZEN/SAKUNO!?" Tomoka and Horio said in unison. Ryoma ignored them all and went over to his seat, leaving Sakuno to explain their absence.

"A-anou..." Sakuno was a bit overwhelmed and stumbled with what to say. She didn't really want to tell them what had happened, as Tomoka hadn't been to the morning practice and the three freshman hadn't noticed anything. "W-well w-when morning practice finished w-we u-ummm..." They stared at her expectantly. Poor Sakuno just didn't know how to say it with them all staring at her. It just made her nervous. Then, thankfully, their teacher came to her rescue.

"Everyone, in your seats!" This caused them to go back to their seats, Sakuno relieved, and the rest disappointed. Due to the fact that it was English class Horio, Tomoka, Kachiro and Katsuo soon forgot about Ryoma and Sakuno being missing all morning and their heads were filled with confusing english words and sentences. After their afternoon classes all the friends made their way to the tennis courts. Some to practice, others to watch.

As practice went on Tomoka cheered loudly while Sakuno stood at her side, watching the matches and silently cheering them on.

When practice finally finished Sakuno waited for Ryoma and the regulars with Tomoka. When the regulars and freshman came out they all walked together to the front gate.

"Hey Echizen, we decided me and Oishi are coming with you today." Momo said pulling Ryoma towards him, trying to get him into a choke hold. Meanwhile Tomoka went up to Sakuno.

"Ne Sakuno, do you want to come over to my house this afternoon?"

"G-gomen Tomo-chan, but I can't come over for a while." This confused Tomoka, usually Sakuno's grandma was pretty easy going and Sakuno never did anything to get grounded. So what was going on?

"Huh? Why?" Sakuno was a little hesitant to answer her, knowing her friend all to well and how she would react.

"W-well, y-you see..."

"Come on Sakuno, just tell me!" Sakuno shut her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for her friends outburst.

"I-I'm staying at Ryoma-kun's house for a while" She rushed out and braced herself. Just as predicted, three seconds later...

"WHAT!" This got the attention of everyone, causing heads to turn towards the two girls. "What do you mean your staying at Ryoma-sama's house?!" This got the attention of the three freshman.

"HUH?" They all exclaimed in unison. The regulars soon deduced that Ryoma and Sakuno hadn't told them yet.

"What! You haven't told them yet?" Momo exclaimed, grinning. "Well, Echizen and Sakuno-chan have been targeted by a street gang who use tennis to hurt people, so for protection Sakuno-chan is going to stay with Echizen until this is all sorted out." Tomoka and the freshman seemed to have trouble taking this in, as they just stood there stunned.

"Come on, let's go" Ryoma said, taking advantage of their stunned state to leave before they started making a ruckus. Momo, Oishi and Sakuno followed him. Leaving Tomoka, Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo to the rest of the regulars.

The walk was interesting for Sakuno, as she listened to their conversation. Soon they turned the conversation to her however.

"Hey Sakuno-chan, What's it like living with baa-san?" Momo asked. Sakuno looked up at him.

"She isn't really like she is at school. She likes to bake and cook, but she doesn't like mess. It's quite easy to keep things clean though, since it's just the two of us." The last part of what she said got the attention of Ryoma, Momo and Oishi. Momo looked like he wanted to question her further, but they had just arrived at Ryoma's house.

"Cya Echizen, Sakuno-chan!" Momo called as he rode off on his bike, which he had been walking on the way there.

"Momo and I will be back in the morning. See you then." Oishi said before he too left. Ryoma and Sakuno walked up to the house in silence.

**A.N.** _SORRY FOR THE WAIT! I just found this chapter hard to write... Well this is as far as I have planned for my story so from now on I'll just be winging it and writing what flows. If you have any suggestions for what I should include please tell me so I can add it. I've had one person suggest something so far and I would love more. Okay there was something else I was supposed to say aswell... ummm...Oh yeah! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I was soooo happy. Ummm... I know there was something else but I can't remember so it can't have been that important. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! _

_Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Until next chapter,_

_Cya_


	7. Chapter 7 - Playing with Karupin

_**Chapter 7 – Playing with Karupin**_

As soon as the door opened the two freshman were greeted by Ryoma's father. He was in his usual monk's attire bouncing a tennis racquet on his shoulder, a grin plastered on his face.

"Oi shounen, let's have a match" he called over to his son, already making his way toward the door.

"No" Ryoma replied simply, for once, shocking his father into silence. Nanjiroh just stared at Ryoma as is he were an alien or something, while Ryoma was nonchalantly taking his shoes off in the doorway.

In the kitchen, Rinko couldn't hear any noise coming from her husband. Getting slightly worried at the lack of noise, she went out to see what was wrong. The sight that greeted her was Ryoma untying his shoes, her husband staring at Ryoma, eyes wide in shock, and Sakuno standing off to the side looking slightly awkward. Deciding to deal with their awkward house guest first, Rinko turned to Sakuno with a kind smile.

"Welcome back Sakuno. Your welcome to stay with us as long as you need. Your grandma should be over here soon with all your things." Sakuno looked up at Rinko and gave her a small smiling in return and replied.

"Arigatou, Rinko-san" At the end of her statement Sakuno bowed to Rinko, her long braids almost touching the floor. Rinko, satisfied that Sakuno was alright, then turned to her husband.

"What wrong now Nanjiroh, you look like you've seen an alien?" Nanjiroh turned his head towards her, exaggerating every movement.

"I may as well have. Ryoma doesn't want to play tennis!" Rinko turned to her son concerned

"Are you alright Ryoma?" Rinko asked her son, signs of worry on her face.

"I'm fine" Ryoma replied. As he got up however, you could see him wince as he took his bag upstairs, avoiding his parents.

"_The pain medicine must have worn off..." _Sakuno thought as she watched Ryoma escaping up the stairs. "_I wonder if it had already started to where of during practice..." _The thought of Ryoma having to go through practice in pain made her feel guiltier than ever. Even if Ryoma told her not to feel guilty, she couldn't help it. Her guilt showed clearly on her face, causing Rinko to worry about the young girl.

"Sakuno, are you ok?" Sakuno quickly looked up at Rinko, her eyes wide in surprise.

"H-Hai. I-I was just feeling a little g-guilty, that's all" She said, lowering her eyes.

"Why are you feeling guilty Sakuno-chan?" She wondered. Sakuno sighed before telling the two adults what had happened earlier, and how Ryoma got hurt. Nanjiroh, who had gone suspiciously quiet, listened intently the whole time. Sakuno ended her story by saying how Ryoma told her not to blame herself, and that it was those thugs fault. After Sakuno finished speaking, Nanjiroh smirked and went off up the stairs while the girls were too busy talking to notice.

"Ryoma's right Sakuno-chan. It wasn't your fault at all, it was those thugs." Sakuno looked like she was about to say something, but before she could get a single word in Rinko continued. "Don't you even think about saying if Ryoma didn't save you he wouldn't have gotten hurt. While that fact is true, no one forced Ryoma to save you. He did it because he wanted to. Ryoma actually cares quite a lot about his friends and if he could take it back I doubt he would. Take it from his mother, he doesn't regret helping you and wouldn't want you to feel guilty." At the end of Rinko's speech, she smiled down at Sakuno, and Sakuno couldn't help but smile back.

"Arigatou Rinko-san" The two then continued to chat for a little while longer, about Ryoma's bruising and Sakuno's ankle, Rinko wanting to make sure that both the children were ok. When Rinko was satisfied that both the kids were fine she told Sakuno that she would still be staying in Ryoma's room and that she could take her bag up there.

"_Ryoma can be so sweet" _Rinko thought, once Sakuno had left. _"Protecting Sakuno and telling her that it wasn't her fault. I wonder if he likes her..." _

Meanwhile with Nanjiroh...

Nanjiroh poked his head into his sons room, a goofy grin on his face. Ryoma looked up from Karupin, who he had been playing with, to look at his dad.

"So, I heard you got hurt protecting Sakuno-chan huh? How noble of you" Nanjiroh said in a teasing voice, his grin getting wider. Ryoma sighed and lowered his eyes back to Karupin. Nanjiroh continued with his teasing. "You wouldn't happen to like Sakuno-chan would you?" he said snickering. "You did save her AND tell her not to feel guilty" Ryoma was used to his dad's teasing about girls, and his senpai's teasing about Sakuno but the last part of his statement surprised Ryoma, although he didn't show it.

"_She told them I told her not to feel guilty?" _Ryoma thought starting to get annoyed. Before he could get too annoyed or let his musings go further, Nanjiroh continued.

"You mustn't have done a very good job of that though, since she was still feeling guilty. But don't worry Ryoma, Rinko will sort her out" Nanjiroh waited for his sons reaction, but was disappointed. Ryoma was still in a bit of pain, seeing as the medication wore off during the walk home, and he wasn't in the mood for his dad's teasing.

"Che," Nanjiroh said, frustrated as he left the room. When the door closed behind him, Ryoma sighed in relief, glad his "baka oyaji" had left, however her couldn't get what he said out of his head.

"_Ryuzaki was still feeling guilty?" _He thought in confusion _"I already told her not to, so why was she?" _For once Ryoma decided to take his dads advice and leave it to his mum. She was, after all, way better at comforting people and dealing with emotions than he was. Hell _anyone_ was better at dealing with emotions than Echizen Ryoma. Ryoma returned his attention back to the white fluffy ball in front of him. Getting his Karupin's favourite toy, which the cat loved so much it followed Ryoma to school to get it, and waving in front of the white ball of fluff.

A few minutes later the door opened once again. This time Ryoma decided not to look up, in case his oyaji had come back to continue teasing him, instead he waited for whoever it was to talk first. However, whoever it was didn't say a word. Ryoma could feel the person staring at him, and decided that he should look. He looked up to see Ryuzaki Sakuno staring at him. When she noticed that Ryoma had caught her staring she blushed bright red and turned her head away.

When Sakuno had walked into the room to see Ryoma playing with a cat, she had been shocked. She had never thought that Ryoma was an animal person, but he seemed happy playing with the cat. He had the same smirk on his face that he did when playing a tennis match against a tough opponent, but this smirk was somehow a little different. His tennis smirk was mostly cocky confidence and determination with happiness and enjoyment behind it. This smirk lacked the confidence and determination but was replaced with a teasing smugness that looked almost the same. They were slightly different however, and Sakuno could tell. This scene entranced Sakuno, causing her to stare.

To avoid even more embarrassment, Sakuno said the first thing that came to mind.

"I-I didn't know you had a cat R-Ryoma-kun." Sakuno put her bag down beside Ryoma's and slowly made her way towards Ryoma and the cat.

"Hn, he was hiding in Nanako's room last night" Ryoma stated continuing to play with Karupin.

"What's his name?" Sakuno asked taking a seat beside Ryoma and Karupin. Ryoma looked at her for a moment, surprised that she didn't stutter, and saw that she was staring at the cat.

"Karupin." Ryoma replied. He considered something for a moment before asking, "Do you wanna play with him?" Sakuno looked up at Ryoma, smiled and nodded shyly. Ryoma handed her the toy and watched as she waved it in from of the Himalayan cat saying

"Come on Karupin" He eyes lit up as Karupin went after the yellow toy.

"_Hmm... Who would have thought Ryuzaki liked cats this much"_ Ryoma thought as he watched the girl get obvious delight out of playing with Karupin. After a while Karupin got bored and went over to Ryoma to lie in his lap. Ryoma stroked Karupin's fur as he purred in delight. Sakuno smiled brightly as she watched Ryoma stroking Karupin.

"_He looks so... childish" _This thought just caused Sakuno to smile more. The last thing she expected was for Ryoma to have a childish side.

"_I guess he doesn't really show this side around people. I guess the senpai's already knew though." _She thought as she recalled the time's she had seen Ryoma with the other regulars, mucking around and ganging up on Kikumaru-senpai with Momo-chan-senpai. Sakuno lowered her head as she thought this, getting a little depressed at just how much she didn't know about the young tennis prince. She heard a meow and looked up at Ryoma again. Seeing him looking so childish again, she couldn't help but smile. Even when she thought of all the times Ryoma had acted childish without her noticing, not once had he looked so much like his own age.

"_I shouldn't get upset over what I don't know" _Sakuno thought optimistically, "_I should be happy about what I'm learning about Ryoma-kun." _Sakuno's smile grew wider as she reached over to pat Karupin as well. He was a very adorable cat.

After a bit of stroking, Karupin started to get restless, so Sakuno and Ryoma stopped stroking and left Karupin do what he wanted. Reluctant to leave Ryoma, Karupin decided to climb all over him. When Sakuno saw Karupin start this, she laughed. The sight of the Himalayan cat trying to climb up Ryoma's arm was just too funny. Ryoma looked at her and scowled a little, moving Karupin away from his arm and back to his lap. However, Karupin wasn't finished. After failing to climb Ryoma's arms Karupin tried a different way of climbing Ryoma. Sakuno watched as the cat's eyes turned towards Ryoma's head. The two stared each other down for a moment, causing Sakuno to laugh more, before Karupin's eyes moved to Ryoma's chest. Finding his knew climbing path, Karupin started to climb Ryoma's chest. Sakuno had to hold her sides due to her laughter.

Ryoma stared at the laughing girl, he had never heard her laugh like this before. Sure she had laughed at his tennis matched when she was especially happy that Seigaku was winning, but never like this. This was Sakuno's laugh when she saw something funny, and Ryoma couldn't take his eyes off her, he had just never seen anything like it. Her eyes were lit up, and her whole body shook, a beautiful smile Ryoma had never seen before gracing her face.

"_Wait beautiful..." _Since when had he, Echizen Ryoma, started thinking of girls smiles as beautiful. Let alone Ryuzaki Sakuno. She was his coaches granddaughter. A sharp pain brought Ryoma out of his musings, causing him to completely forget what he was just recently thinking about. Karupin's paw had made it's way right onto the spot where Ryoma was hit with the tennis ball. Ryoma winced and pushed Karupin away from him. Sakuno saw the look of pain on his face and immediately stopped laughing.

"Are you okay Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno asked worriedly. Ryoma just nodded, causing Sakuno to worry more.

"Do you have any more medicine?" She asked, hoping there was some way to relieve his pain. Ryoma shook his head, and seeing Sakuno was about to continue to worry and try to get him to have more medicine, he spoke.

"It's hurting less now. It just hurt because Karupin stepped on the bruise." Sakuno didn't look convinced, but decided to let it drop. He had taken the medicine for her earlier, she didn't want to push him too much. Instead she decided to get something off her chest.

"W-when did the medicine w-where off?" she asked, hoping that it was sometime after tennis practice.

"While we were walking home." Ryoma said, picking Karupin up again and placing him on his lap. Sakuno sighed in relief, thankful that Ryoma didn't have to suffer too much during tennis practice. She smiled and started patting Karupin again.

"_I really like this cat" _Sakuno thought happily, scratching Karupin behind the ears. A few minutes later they heard a call coming from downstairs.

"Sakuno-chan! Your grandma is here!" Sakuno smiled and gave Karupin one last pat before going downstairs. Ryoma sat there for a moment more, considering whether he should follow or not, before deciding he was probably going to have to go down anyway. So Ryoma put Karupin down and went downstairs after Sakuno.

**A.N. **_HEY! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm not sure if Karupin is a boy or a girl so I decided to make it a boy. I think I sometimes refer to him as an it so... sorry if that bugs anyone. If anyone knows what gender Karupin actually is please tell me. __THANKS to those who reviewed! (I think there were 2) They made me really happy! Ummm... I think that's it for now... If you have any suggestions please let me know, I appreciate them. _

_Please Review! and Thanks for reading. Until next chapter,_

_Cya_


End file.
